Abstain as well they should - Gay-Marriage is not a federal government issue as with abortion (except abortion could be construed as a due process issue which SCOTUS did not use in their reasoning as far as I know).
As with abortion, so the Gay-Marriage thing is a STATES issue, not a Constitutional issue for SCOTUS. Unfortunately, SCOTUS, along with the rest of the federal government, meddles with lots of things that are none of its business.
You’ve said something very important here: abortion and homosexual marraige have become issues, IMO, due to judicial activism.
>> “Abstain as well they should - Gay-Marriage is not a federal government issue...” <<
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Unfortunately that line of reasoning is no longer available to them, since the federal courts have injected themselves into the issue in California. Prop 8 is something they have to deal with because of the lower federal courts.